Abiotic
Factors
in an environment that are not or never were alive. Examples: rock island, gases, water, sun, minerals and temperature.
Climate
Definition? The
Levels of Organization Cont.
No
individual organism lives completely on its own. It may live with other individuals of the same species to form a population. Several populations living together make up a community. Several communities in a given area make up a biome.

Habitat
Competition is the struggle between two organisms within their habitat. If a species can avoid competing they may co-exist. But if they compete, one will eventually drive the other out of the habitat, unless they have slightly different niches. Example: times of activity
Levels of Biological Organization
It is important to remember that all parts of an ecosystem are interrelated. Each part is affected by all other parts.
Climate cont.
If
the climate is hot and moist, then there will be many trees, characteristic of a Rainforest. Some animals and insects will be adapted for living in trees. They are called arboreal and include monkeys and spiders.
A
niche may be described in terms of space utilization, food consumption, temperature range and mating requirements. An organism’s niche would also take into account its behavior. You can think of an organism’s niche as its job/role in the environment.
Migration
– moving from one area to another to use resources
Hibernation
– reducing activity severely for a period of time.
Bibliography
Pictures
by Microes to avoid competiton:
Nocturnal Diurnal
– active at night
- active during the day
Crepuscular
dusk
– active at dawn and
Different Niches to avoid competiton: cont…
Organization Cont.
Collectively, all the biomes of the planet earth make up the biosphere. Again, the most basic level of ecological organization is the individual/species. A group of individuals of the same species make up a population. A community is all the populations of living organisms in an area.

Levels of organization
Organization Cont.
The boundary of a community is determined by the distribution of its members. The boundary of one community is not necessarily the boundary of another community. We say these communities overlap.
Ecology
The
study of organisms and their interrelationships with their environment (biotic and abiotic) upon which determine distribution and abundance of organisms.
Introduction to Ecology
Organism
An
individual living thing
Species
A
group of the same organisms that are able to breed and produce fertile organisms.
Organism

Organization Cont.
A
biome is a large geographical area with a similar climate.
Biosphere
The
biosphere is the region on Earth where all life exists.

If we remove one species from an ecosystem, there could be severe consequences for that ecosystem.

Cont.
If
we remove all the spiders from a given ecosystem, the insect population will grow rapidly and destroy forest and crops.
Who
do you think would benefit? What would happen to their population? Who would be affected then?
Levels of Organization
Ecologists
tend to label groups of organisms. Let’s look at a familiar setting for example: Your house is part of a town, this is part of a state, which is part of a country, which is part of a continent.
overriding factor that determines the general nature of an ecosystem. If the climate is always hot and dry, the soil will be sandy. The plants, animals and other life will be specially adapted for survival in a desert.
Two parts of an Ecosystem Biotic and Abiotic
Biotic
–
– factors that are or were alive/living in an ecosystem.
Examples:
animals, plants, insects, bacteria, fungi, and dead organisms.
Habitat and Niche
Each
organism confronts the challenge of survival in a different way. The niche an organism occupies is the sum of all the ways it utilizes the resources of its environment. Part of this role may be played as the predator and part may be played as the prey.
Niche
Example:
Snakes eat mice and other birds and rodents but snakes are also eaten by birds of prey and mice eat grasshoppers and other insects.
Niche
Habitat
Niche is not synonymous with habitat. Habitat is a place, niche is a pattern of living. Habitat is the address and niche is the job or occupation. If two organisms have the same habitat and similar niches, they will compete with each other over the available resources. (food- water -shelter)